Just stay a little longer

A while ago I worked on a set of devotions looking at different people Jesus met during His time on earth. A fascinating exercise. Jesus interacting with different people in varying contexts, as told by His friends and followers. It is very revealing. It shows us not only the immense power of God in human form, but also His humanity and his intricate and intimate knowledge of those He deals with. All done in love.

One of the more famous episodes takes place just after dawn in the sandy temple courts in a crowd of onlookers. The role players: Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers of the law (the religious elite), and a woman caught in adultery. You can read the account in John 8:1-11. 

Most of the time we focus on the interaction between Jesus and the woman. It's a beautiful story of grace, redemption, safety and transformation. But recently I started wondering what the religious elite (let's call them The Squad) must have been going through.

They were right to bring the adulterous woman before the law (according to their law). They weren't interested in justice, though. They wanted to test Jesus and use His answer against Him. The woman didn't matter as much. It could really have been anyone. That's where The Squad was coming from.

And Jesus turns it all around, as He always does. "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." The Squad slowly broke up and departed; the oldest (and probably wisest) first. The woman's life was spared.

This is where The Squad's heart and mentality gets interesting. I wonder why they left? Surely one or more of them (as teachers of the law and Pharisees, examples to the people of Israel) would have been without sin. Surely they would have followed the law to the letter, because they knew it off by heart. If anyone in that specific courtyard at that specific time was without sin it would surely have been one of them, at least.

But no. They drop the stones on the sandy ground, little explosions of dust emphasising their realisation, and leave. They leave the woman and Jesus alone, unharmed, because they know themselves. They know that they are not as spotless, sinless, pure as they made out to be. They know. And I suspect they knew that Jesus knows. Just like the woman knew her own sin, left humiliated, heart beating in her throat, but safe and welcomed in the presence of Jesus.

There are a couple of similarities between the woman and The Squad: both were guilty, both had their guilt made public, both were in need of forgiveness and transformation. The difference between them, though, is that The Squad didn't stick around. The woman did, maybe because she had to, but she stayed. The Squad left and in doing so they missed out on the forgiveness, redemption and transformation part of this episode.

We're all guilty of something. None of us is as pure and blameless as we'd like to be or pretend to be. I don't know what your sin is, but I don't have to. You know yours and I know mine. It's what we do with that realisation or insight that really matters. We can either run away and hide from the One who can forgive and redeem and transform, like The Squad (and so many others in the Bible). Or we can linger. We can stay a while. We can dare to hope for forgiveness and acceptance as we are.

Whatever lies behind you and whatever lies ahead, I hope you will linger in the presence of Jesus. I hope you will resist the urge to run and hide because of your shame. I hope that you stay a little longer and shamelessly, courageously hope long enough to hear the loving words of Jesus: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin."

Selah.